Love Ryder Cup decision looms

Davis Love III: US captain will reveal his four wildcard picks on Tuesday

Davis Love III will reveal the final make-up of the US Ryder Cup team on Tuesday by naming his four wildcard picks - an announcement you can watch live on Sky Sports News HD from 3pm.

The US captain has the unenviable task of narrowing down a shortlist of up to eight of the world's leading players for the match against Europe at Medinah, near Chicago, Illinois, later this month.

With various players rating highly over matters such as form, results, experience and team computability, Love is facing one of the toughest selection decisions of any US skipper in recent times.

His challenge is to find a team to break the dominance of the Europeans, who have won four of the last five contests and six of the last eight.

Chief among his considerations might be the issue of experience, meaning veterans Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker could be uppermost in his thoughts.

The US already boast Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, who have made 14 appearances between them, in their team, but also among their automatic qualifiers are three rookies.

Love may feel 42-year-old Furyk, who has played at seven Ryder Cups, and 45-year-old Stricker, a two-time attendee, could offer much to the likes of first-timers Jason Dufner, Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson.

Stricker and Furyk have both partnered Woods in the past and went close to automatic qualification themselves, finishing 10th and 11th on the list respectively.

Competition for places

Finishing ninth was Hunter Mahan but such was the tightness of the competition that Bo Van Pelt, who ended 14th, could have muscled his way in automatically but for a poor final round at last month's USPGA Championship.

Both will have exercised Love's thoughts, but so too will 23-year-old Rickie Fowler, an impressive debutant at Celtic Manor in 2010.

In terms of form, Dustin Johnson Brandt Snedeker and Nick Watney might have timed their runs perfectly.

Having recovered from a back injury earlier in the year, long-hitting Johnson has posted top-four finishes in his last two events including the Deutsche Bank Championship which came to an end on Monday.

Snedeker is also hot having finished as runner-up at The Barclays at Bethpage Black, New York, last week and sixth in Boston on Monday.

Meanwhile, Watney - who finished 30th on the qualifying list - pushed his hopes for selection by winning The Barclays.

Love, who himself played in six Ryder Cups, ran the final rule over the contenders during the closing round of the Deutsche Bank event.

Europe's team was finalised last week with captain Jose Olazabal naming Ian Poulter and Nicolas Colsaerts as his two wildcard choices.

Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Graeme McDowell, Paul Lawrie, Francesco Molinari, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Peter Hanson and Martin Kaymer qualified outright.